CHILDREN'S HOMILY, Fifth Sunday of Lent - John 11: 1 to 44

THE UNSPOKEN WORD, March 29, 2020, Fifth Sunday of Lent - John 11: 1 to 44

CHILDREN’S HOMILY

Please read - or have your parents read to you - Chapter 11 of St. John’s Gospel, from verse 1 to verse 44 only; please don’t go any further.

Have you ever been sick and had to stay home from school? I’m sure almost every kid in Religious Education has had that happen to them. I know it happened to me a lot when I was in Grade school. I had them all - measles, German measles, mumps, chicken pox, whooping cough.

Sometimes, it was fun being home. When I wasn’t too sick, I got to sleep late, have breakfast in bed, read my story books, play with my toys. My classmates would bring my homework to my house. With no time spent in school, homework was easy.

But, sometimes, it was not so much fun - when my throat was really sore; when the chicken pox itch drove me crazy; when it was hard to breath because of the constant coughing. And when my temperature would go up near 103, it got really scary. I could tell from the change in my mom’s face and her way of taking care of me. I could tell from the whispered conversations between my parents. I could tell because I FELT really, really sick!!

It’s easy to understand, then, the panic that drove Martha and Mary to send that message to Jesus, “The one you love is sick!” They meant come right away! Hurry! Do something to save our brother Lazarus. But Jesus didn’t do anything. He stayed where He was ... waiting.

It sounds terrible. It sounds mean. Jesus was waiting for Lazarus to die. He told his disciples that. He said, “This sickness will not end in death. It is so that you will understand the Glory of God.”

That didn’t help Martha or Mary very much. You can tell that, when Jesus got to Bethany, they were anxious to see Him. Martha was also angry that Jesus didn’t come in time. Mary was just sad. But Jesus didn’t say, “Okay. I’ll fix everything.” He said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. Do you believe this?” And Martha told Him she believed that Jesus was the great Messiah promised by the prophets.

Jesus was so sad about the death of Lazarus, and especially about the grief of His friends and their neighbors, that He actually broke down and cried!! Grown men do not cry very often - maybe when someone they love very much dies or when some terrible thing happens.

Have you ever lost somebody close to you? Or maybe a dog or cat that you loved? Or maybe a special toy? Remember how you felt? Jesus, Martha and Mary all felt the same way. Your parents tried to comfort you. It took a long time but, finally, you began to feel better. We say you “moved on” or “got over it” or, sometimes you hear people say, “you got closure.” Jesus is going to “bring closure” to everybody for their loss of Lazarus.

But first, Jesus wants His friends, and all the people visiting them, to understand how much God loves them. So He prays out loud to God, His Father, before He works the miracle. Only then does He make them open the cave where Lazarus’ body was buried. He calls to His friend to come out. Wow! Lazarus comes out ... but something’s not right. He’s still tangled up in the sheets they used to cover him. Jesus tells them the people in the crowd to “untie him and set him free!!” It was like a “Do it yourself” miracle; the people had to do their part in rescuing Lazarus.

Right now, many people - probably even some of the people in your own family - are both sad and angry about this new sickness called the “Corona Virus.” It’s like a cold ... only it can get much worse, very quickly. It can make some people sick enough that they died. That’s scary!! It is not very likely to happen to you, because you are young, strong and healthy. It is more dangerous for old people and people who already have some other illness that has weakened their bodies.

So, what can you do? When Martha and Mary sent their message to Jesus, it was like a prayer: “Lord, the one you love is sick!!” That is a prayer you can say. It’s very short. Very easy. Maybe, along with it, you can also say an Our Father or a Hail, Mary. In your heart, listen to Jesus ask you if you believe that He is really “the resurrection and life” for everybody in the whole world. Even if you’re not sure; even if you don’t really understand all the words; trust yourself ... and trust Jesus. Tell our Lord that you believe. Ask Him to show us all “the Glory of God.”

We are being told that the best way to stop this disease is to stay home, stay away from one another for a while. That’s like Jesus telling the people to untie Lazarus. For the miracle to work properly, they had to do their part. So do we.

A couple of times during His life, Jesus showed how much He loved children. Here’s a secret that nobody ever bothers to tell you ... but it’s true. Christ loves your prayers more than any others. Even if you don’t think you are an especially “good kid’: even if other people tell you you’re naughty or mean or selfish or even stupid, it’s still true. So, each day - until the President tells us that the worst is over - just pray to Jesus: “Lord, the ones you love are sick!!” He will listen.